Dimensions: Collaborative Research: Microbial Biodiversity and Functionality in Deep Shale and its Interfaces

这项研究将探索一种很少被研究的栖息地的微生物生命和功能：一公里深的黑色页岩，这是美国能源组合的关键组成部分。它还代表着由于能源行业使用新的水平钻井和水力压裂技术而面临生物多样性变化的直接风险的生态系统。深层页岩生物圈储存了丰富的甲烷和其他石油碳氢化合物，为页岩内及其边界地层的微生物提供了碳和能源资源。在这些岩石中遇到的极端条件包括光合作用缺乏光线、亚微米孔隙、高温、高压和卤水流体化学。这些环境因素中的每一个都可能强烈地影响微生物种群的起源、适应和功能。西弗吉尼亚州和俄亥俄州阿巴拉契亚盆地内的Marcellus和Utica-Point Pleasant页岩是美国最大的非常规储量之一。该页岩将作为案例研究，广泛描述黑色页岩及其边界岩石界面中的微生物生物多样性和功能。研究目标包括根据这些地层的地质历史推断微生物生命的起源，探索微生物如何适应当前的深层生物圈环境，以及调查在该生态系统中遇到的极端环境条件下用于隔离营养资源的代谢策略。研究人员将对页岩及其界面上的本土微生物种群进行首次基因组调查。这项研究将极大地扩展我们对页岩中微生物生命和功能的认识，在能源开发造成大范围环境干扰之前。该项目还将提供对陆地深层生物圈微生物碳循环的进一步洞察。项目参与者将为当地场馆(如学校、图书馆、博物馆)开发展览材料，在那里更广泛的公众可以了解深层地下水中的居民，了解他们的特征和偏好，将微生物与他们的深海近亲配对，并见证这项研究揭示了钻探前后的群落结构。研究成果将通过俄亥俄州立大学(OSU)和西弗吉尼亚大学(WVU)页岩能源和环境联合实验室的各种教育活动向学生和更广泛的公众传达。调查人员和受训人员还将通过俄亥俄州立大学S地下能源中心和俄勒冈州州立大学/西弗吉尼亚州立大学推广办公室领导的定期研讨会和工作组会议，向阿巴拉契亚地区的非营利组织、监管机构、学者和其他利益相关者传播页岩能源主题的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research will probe microbial life and function in a rarely examined habitat: kilometer-deep black shale, which is a critical component of the U.S. energy portfolio. It also represents an ecosystem under immediate risk for biodiversity change as a result of energy industry use of new horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies. The deep shale biosphere stores an abundance of methane and other oil hydrocarbons that provide carbon and energy resources for microorganisms both within the shale and along its bounding formations. The extreme conditions encountered within these rocks include the absence of light for photosynthesis, sub-micron pore-spaces, elevated temperatures, high pressures, and brine fluid chemistry. Each of these environmental factors may strongly influence the origin, adaptation and function of the microbial population. The Marcellus and Utica-Point Pleasant shale within the Appalachian basin of West Virginia and Ohio is one of the largest unconventional reserves in the U.S. This shale will serve as a case study to broadly characterize the microbial biodiversity and function in black shale and its bounding rock interfaces. Research objectives include inferring the origin of microbial life with respect to geologic history of these formations, exploring how microorganisms have adapted to the current deep biosphere environment, and investigating the metabolic strategies used to sequester nutrient resources given the extreme environmental conditions encountered in this ecosystem. The investigators will undertake the first genomic survey of indigenous microbial populations in shale and its interfaces. This research will greatly expand our knowledge of microbial life and function in shale prior to broad-scale environmental disturbance as a result of energy exploitation. The project will also provide further insight into microbial carbon cycling in the deep terrestrial biosphere. The project participants will develop exhibit materials for local venues (e.g. schools, libraries, museums) where the broader public can get to know the residents of the deep subsurface, learn about their characteristics and preferences, match microbes with their deep-sea cousins, and witness what this research has revealed about community structure before and after drilling. Research findings will be communicated to students and the broader public through a variety of educational activities at a joint Ohio State University (OSU)-West Virginia University (WVU) Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory. Investigators and trainees will also disseminate knowledge on shale energy topics to non-profits, regulatory agencies, academics, and other stakeholders in the Appalachian region through regular workshops and workgroup meetings led by OSU?s Subsurface Energy Resource Center and OSU/WVU Extension Offices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.